, 1887-04-21
THE e~EEFsTEAk TEST.
PerfectInE one's Self In Common Tasks
Tho Study of Children.

PerfcctInE Ones Self In Common Tasks
Tho Study of Children.
1t is one to ten that n girl who can
properly broil a beefsteak or make q good
loaf of bread can do anything else within
the range of her opportunities. We arc
quito as much the creatures of our Volt
tons as our circumstances. Those who
do not master the useful accomplishments
because they are not compelled to do so
are not likely to be deeply versed in polite
accomplishments. They are either slug
gish of mind or slow and slothful bodily,
or both slow and sluggish in mind and
body. As wives they will follow the
bent of previous inclination. They will
make poor housekeepers. As q rule the
slow boy will turn out a shiftless, plod-
ding, unambitious man, satisfied if he
may eat, drink, and sleep without too
much labor if he must earn his living,
and without care of mind if his living
nave been stored up for him by thrifty
%progenitors. If a husband, he will be
quito willing that the wife of his bosom
shall wait upon him to the full measure
of her inclination. As members of
society, such men and women add moth
ing TO the common stock of enjoyment
contributed by others. They are cuckoos,
minus the cuckoo enterprise in providing
alien nurture for the broods they may
help to bring into the world.
The philosophy of the beefsteak test
rests on the theory hat those who per-
feet themselves in a common task, rather
esteemed as a drudgery than as an evil
dence of merit, will also perfect them
selves in other and more snowy pro-
~ficiencics. They have alert minds, look
ing beyond tho frying pan or tho tea
kettle to achieve results, and willing and
dexterous hands that do not find labor dis
tasteful wheni it brings knowledge along
with it. The patience of tho girl who
evolves n loaf of bread from its constit-
emit substances fit for u queen TO eat may
be expected, given the requisite materials,
to construct = robe fit for a queen to
wear, or, "of Imagination all compact, l"
TO write q poem it would delight n queen
to read. A good loaf of bread is in itself
a homely poem, and the girl who makes
1t n home delight.
All this preamble leads up TO the OBJ
servation that all the children of what
ever condition in life should be studied
for their appetites and inclinations. The
bright ones-the inquisitive, restless,
active youngsters-are apt TO push them
selves i'll well doing. The dull and obtuse
children need more careful handling;
first, to nurse their physical strength,
and then to brighten and awaken their
minds. 1t can be done. Sometimes, as
every one must nave observed, the dull
youngster grows into a bright woman, or
Il quick witted, 20 ahead man. But not
one half the girls are born with the in
nate capacity or the grown up desire to
broil a beefsteak properly. Nor do the
boys come into the world any better pre-
pared to wrestle with the problem of life.
Out of this great army-who marry and
are given in marriage-comes the listless-
ness, the ennui, tho inertia that arrest the
progress and eclipse the gayety of nations.
The worst possible thing that can hap
pen a child is that restraint which re-
suits IRON entire idleness and absence of
direction. Active children sometimes
play wrong. They acquire habits that
warp them and turn them awry. Weak
lings and children who are ''born tired"
ON the contrary, %aggravate their natal
tendencies by becoming constitutiOnally
weak and tired, when proper care might
have them strong and pushing. If it be
true that those who learn to do what
they may are also those who may be
trusted to learn to do what they can, an
understanding Of the fact should be Of
great advantage in life, not only in
choosing life partners, but partners in
business and associates and employees in
positions of trust or works Of deXterity.
The development of the pushing pro
pensity where it exists, of pushing it
where it is not, and of fostering aptitudes
and %inclinations which are 80 feeble rs to
need the mngnifying power Of the great
Lick telescope to discover them are duties
that rest largely upon the mothers of
the land. Few of them have ever
thought of their obligations to their Off
spring in this light; many have never
considered them Mt all. But it is clear
that even when u child's body and
morals are well looked after the work of
fitting him for life is but just begun. He
must be taught, if he does not intuitively
know, how to broil his beefsteak .-Phila-
delphia Record.